My mother, Lina Mae Farmer, on the day we buried daddy. December 14, 2006
I was lucky enough to be the daughter of a mom-aholic. Can you believe I didn't even make my own bed until I was married? Mom was an old-fashioned woman who believed serving her family proved her love. Mom would work in the fields all day during potato season and still manage to cook breakfast and dinner and keep a spotless house. She was amazing at polishing floors till they shined and at the end of the day she still had time to sew my clothes. Our vegetables grew in the garden and our beef and pork didn't come from the store. Want chicken for dinner? I can remember standing at the back door watching as a helpless chicken had it's turn at meeting my mother on the chopping block. Yep, she really did show me what it was like "to run around like a chicken with its head cut off."
Mom was raised by a strict mother who believed idle time was foolish time. My mom, the oldest girl of 9 children, ironed for her entire family as one of her many chores. Her brother, Ralph, was so particular that he threw his shirts at her if he found one wrinkle. Growing up I watched as my mom would iron for hours as she watched her soap operas. Mom only gave me two chores, one was to fold the bath towels and the other was to be the ironer of daddy's hankies and all the pillowcases. I would eventually grow into a master of laundry skills. To this day my favorite scent comes out of a dryer vent. My future husband would be a lucky man to have starched shirts and perfectly creased pants.
After I got married, I found ironing was more productive if it was done in the morning on a "as needed" basis. I must have really proved I loved my kids because I ironed and ironed and ironed. But, times have changed me. I struggle with my ironing skills and it shows. Now, by the time I drive to work my shirt is a wrinkled mess. Adding to the frustration is the fact that skinny people do not wrinkle their clothes. At the end of the day I look like I've been dug out from the bottom of the hamper, but, Miss Skinny Minny over there is as fresh as a daisy. I just don't get it. Plus, ironing causes hot flashes. Every time I stand over the ironing board I have to strip down to my underwear to cool off. That, my friends, has not been a pretty sight since taking the infamous trip "over the hill."
Which brings me the good news of my husband being addicted to Nordstrom SmartCare shirts and pants. I promise you when you pull them out of the dryer they look like they've been ironed by my mom. Each morning as hubby puts on his un-ironed, wrinkle-free, permanent pressed clothing, and I dress in my iron-free jersey knits, I am thankful for my shopping skills. My husband even thanked me yesterday for shopping at Nordstrom. Life is good as a modern woman.
13 comments:
Oh, how you spoiled your children. Did you really have to iron all of Mark's shirts until he was 25!? How is a wife supposed to live up to THOSE expectations?! :)
You need to give me a lesson in how to iron a man's shirt. By the time I get halfway done, it is already starting to wrinkle again. As crispy and perfect as Mark's uniforms are going to have to be, I think we are going to be paying a fortune in dry cleaning if I don't learn how to do them correctly.
What a refreshing post! I love it! Keep them coming! We'll read them long after the ironing is done!
oy, I cannot believe you had to watch chicken get its head chopped off. I can barely wash a bird without barfing. The 2 times I tried to wash a chicken, I started screaming hysterically because the bird was all curled up and looked like my nakie babies...calvin was a newborn and i just could not handle it. the only thing that got me through it was thinking "i bet Natasha didn't squeal like a school-girl washing her chickens".
as for ironing...up there as one of my least favorite chores. i simply cannot figure out all the trixy creases, esp. when there are pleats and such. perhaps i will look into these Nordstrom smart clothes. too bad Norstrom won't come here. I heard they were gonna charge us astronomical taxes, so the city wasn't interested. Boo.
You have been holding out on me! I know nothing about these Nordstom shirts and you have proclaimed me wiser! Dang, don't you know you're supposed to tell everybody you know about cool stuff like that????
They are expensive so we always get them on sale. I ordered 7 last week. They are amazing. The man hasn't owned any other brand of shirts and pants in 2 or 3 years.
I love it! I'm starting to become an ironing nazi. I just hate when we're at church and I look over and see Scotty all wrinkly, makes me feel guilty, like I haven't done my job.
you need to tell me when they have nordstrom sales on those shirts, we might need to start investing=)
Well, what sort of a wife am I? My husband gets up and irons his own shirts in the morning. Eeek! LOL Your Mom is beautiful!!
Welcome to bloggy world! In premarital counseling Michael Sampley had us write out our expectations and we put that Jeff would iron. He looked at us like we were crazy, but that's always how it's been and he's much better at it than I am! He also sews! I guess that's what happens when you are raised by a single mom!
Oh you kill me. I am the WORST ironer known to man and yes, I seek out ANY product that says "wrinkle free", including sheets. Yeah, I want to come to your ironing class that you are now going to have to give us all! :)
hmmmm....blogging friends....older and wiser!! please let me be the wiser!!!
I have those same memories of Grandma watching daytime tv and ironing. Only now do I think it was kind of weird that people paid her to iron. Back then it seemed totally normal! I do think I need myself a professional ironer! I did NOT inherit her ironing genes nor your laundry genes...nor your cooking genes...now that I think about it, I got jipped!
I loved this post...it made me remember how my grandma taught me to iron. The woman ironed everything including sheets and pillowcases! Welcome to the blogging world, I'm new too!
Brenda,
I tagged you!
Can't wait to hear what you have to share!
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